Answer: TRUE

Questions:

• What do you think a credit freeze does? 
• Why would you want to freeze your credit before you even have a credit card or other form of credit?
• Would you ask your parents to freeze your credit? Why or why not? 

Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers (Federal Trade Commission):

The new law also lets people like parents, guardians, and representatives acting on behalf of a young person in foster care proactively protect a young person’s credit file by freezing it. If the nationwide credit reporting agencies don’t have a file on the child, they will create one so they can freeze it. This record can’t be used for credit purposes. It’s there just to make sure the child’s record is frozen and protected against identity theft and fraud.

Depending on the adult’s relationship to the child, there are different procedures to put a freeze in place. Parents need to show proof of their authority, like a birth certificate, to freeze or unfreeze the credit file for their child under 16.

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About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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